Factors influencing cognitive and neural representations contributing to memory

认知神经科学领域的主要目标是确定有助于或阻碍记忆的条件，并明确涉及的潜在大脑区域。在与我的学员的合作中，我们产生并发展了认知范式，扩展了我们对记忆如何工作及其神经基础的理解。我的建议是认知、记忆、衰老和神经成像领域的交叉。长期目标是建立一个模型，指定影响可记忆内容的数量和质量的因素。在目标1中，我们将评估记忆痕迹的数量和类型，或编码过程中参与的代码，是否预测后续情景记忆的水平。在编码过程中，跟踪的数量将由不同的任务指令来操纵，这些任务指令在其参与的运动、语义、生成和图像处理方面有所不同。在目标2中，我们将评估在编码时形成的表征性质对被遗忘的易感性的影响程度。涉及表征码的推论将由多任务条件下对记忆干扰的易感性决定。在Aim 3中，我们将确定某些上下文是否可以通过促进编码过程中的目标表示来支持记忆。我们将通过操纵预先存在的熟悉度、个人相关性和目标被编码的视觉环境的情感来实现这一点。对于每个目标，通过比较年轻人和老年人的表现，我们将确定神经完整性的变化是否会调节观察到的对记忆表现的影响。

Identifying conditions that help or hinder memory, and specifying the underlying brain regions implicated, are primary goals in the field of cognitive neuroscience. In collaboration with my trainees, we have generated and developed cognitive paradigms that extend our understanding of how memory works, and of its neural basis. My proposal lies at the intersection of the fields of cognition, memory, aging, and neuroimaging. The long-term goal is to develop a model specifying factors that influence both the quantity and quality of what can be remembered. In Aim 1 we will evaluate whether the number and type of memory traces, or codes engaged during encoding, predict the level of subsequent episodic memory. The number of traces will be manipulated by varying task instructions during encoding, that differ in terms of their engagement of motoric, semantic, generative, and pictorial processing. In Aim 2 we will evaluate the degree to which susceptibility to being forgotten is influenced by the nature of representation formed at encoding. Inferences regarding representational codes engaged will be determined by susceptibility to memory interference from multi-tasking conditions. In Aim 3 we will determine whether certain contexts can support memory by facilitating target representations during encoding. We will accomplish this by manipulating pre-existing familiarity, personal relevance, and emotionality of the visual context in which a target is encoded. For each aim, by comparing performance in younger adults to that in senior citizens with known deterioration is key brain regions, we will determine whether changes in neural integrity modulate observed effects on memory performance. This proposal builds on the idea that episodic memories are formed by the interaction of representations invoked during initial encoding (visual, motoric, semantic, emotional). Each representation encompasses a separate network, with its own behavioural properties, and neural substrates. It is the interaction of these that allows for rich episodic memories in humans. We will build a model offering greater predictive power, specifying factors and conditions that enhance retention of information. It will also highlight conditions in which memory can be disrupted, providing insight into the limitations of human cognitive processing. By explaining why certain factors influence memory, we will identify a means of compensating for interference effects. Such knowledge highlights ways in which memory can be ameliorated despite deficits associated with normal aging, and with multi-tasking environments which are ever more present in today's fast-paced world.